


Flowers

by scarlettsoldier



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 13:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7363825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarlettsoldier/pseuds/scarlettsoldier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the main thing that kept Bucky sane after his winter soldier days was the small bouquet of flowers tattooed on his abdomen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowers

“Hey Steve, where are you going?” Bucky observed Steve jumping around as he attempted to put his shoes on without bending down- what an old man.   
“I’m going to visit Peggy today.”   
“Oh, okay.”  
“Do you need anything while I’m out?” Steve asked more out of habit than anything else. He was always looking out for his friend, and this included making sure Bucky had all his essential supplies.   
“Nah man,” Bucky replied, lying back down on the couch, “I’m good.   
And then Bucky was alone with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. He flicked through the tv channels idly as he absentmindedly brushed his fingers over his soulmark, shivering when his cool metal hand connected with his warm skin.   
Bucky couldn’t help but wonder if his soulmate had died like Steve’s had- he shuddered at that thought. The thought of some girl growing old and alone bothered him greatly, knowing that he could never go back and do things differently.  
Or maybe she was in an old nursing home somewhere, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Falling in love with people other than your soulmates was not too common, but if it meant that Bucky’s soulmate was happy, then he was happy. Or at the very least, bittersweet.  
***  
“That will be twelve ninety-five please,” You said, waiting as the customer pulled out his wallet. “I think that they will really love it, by the way.” You nodded your heads to the bouquet of flowers in your hands, excitement for the man running through you. This was your favorite part about working in a flower shop- the pay may not be great, but putting smiles on the customers’ faces was enough for you.  
The man smiled and handed the cash over to you as you handed him the bouquet. “Thank you,” He said, “I think he will too.”  
As soon as he left the door you started to busy yourself again, not liking moments of stillness. That was one thing that everyone knew about you- you always needed to be moving. You were alway talking, always moving, always doing something with your time. Sometimes you thought it was because you didn’t want to be left alone with your thoughts, but before you could answer yourself you had already started doing something else.  
You were watering a pot of pink gerbera daisies when the door chimed, signalling that someone else was in the shop with you. Thinking that they would call if they needed help, you continued on to water the next plant, and the next plant, and the next…  
“Excuse me, miss?” You nearly jumped out of your skin when the man’s voice penetrated the silence. Apparently the man took notice of this, because he quickly apologized, “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”  
After catching your breath, you waved him off. “It’s alright. You’re just have really quiet footsteps, that’s all.” You gave the tall blonde a friendly smile before continuing, “So what are you looking for today mister…”  
“Steve, my name’s Steve.” The way he said his name, like he was surprised that you would want to know it, bothered you. He seemed like a sweet guy and it saddened you to know that he didn’t think you would care.  
“It’s nice to meet you Steve!” You placed a hand on your hip while pushing a strand of hair out of your face. “What do you have in mind?”  
“Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with that.”   
“Okay, well, what’s the occasion?” His smile fell and you chided yourself for not being more sensitive. You knew there was something off about the man- he was sad. He probably lost someone, and here you were trying to be all perky.  
“A friend of mine passed recently,” He said, looking at the floor, “and I wanted to get some nice flowers for her.”  
“Okay,” You said, taking his hand and walking him towards the front desk of the store. You pulled out a booklet filled with different flower assortment types, from small flower pots to large lavishing displays. You handed it over to him gently, well aware of how he was feeling. You have also lost people important to you and you knew how it felt. “Do you see anything you like?”  
His eyes flitted up from the booklet to meet yours before he spoke, pain clearly showing in them. “I think she would have liked Selection B, if that’s okay.” He handed the booklet back into your hands.  
“Ah,” You said, peeking at the picture that he was talking about. Selection B was a moderately long display of an assortment of white flowers, a beautifully modest set in your opinion. “And I can show you some different types of flowers for it if you’d like.”  
“Thank you, that would be great.”  
“But before we start off, do you have any specific colors in mind? A favorite color of hers perhaps?”  
Steve’s eyes flickered with something nostalgic for a moment before returning to the present. “She liked red. She was always painting her nails this beautiful shade of red…” He trailed off, a sad look on his face. You couldn’t help but think that he looked like some sort of lost puppy with that face.  
“Okay, that’s good because I have lots of red flowers in here.” You took his hand again and led him to the red section. (Yes, you color coded your flowers.) Releasing it, you used your finger to point to the different plants he could choose from. “Now here we have the traditional red roses, and right next to them are the tulips, and below the tulips are the customer favorite- the carnations. I have someone who comes in every week to buy his wife a bouquet of them- it’s really cute,” You accidentally started to go off, mentally palming your forehead as you did so. “Sorry, I’m just rambling now.” You gave him a sheepish smile, hoping that he wouldn’t mind.  
“It’s alright. And I can see how they are a customer favorite, these carnations are beautiful.”  
“Yeah, they are. And then over here we have dahlias, and the daisies, and over there are the calla lillies…”  
You continued to name off all of the flowers in the section enthusiastically, point to each one as you went. If he was annoyed by your antics, he was good at hiding it because it seemed as though he was actually interested in what you were talking about.  
“And that’s it for the red flowers, unless you want to look at some white ones too?”  
“I think red will be just fine.”   
“Okay,” You said, walking behind the cash register to retrieve the basket he chose for the assortment. You quickly walked back to him, ready to start picking the flowers out. “Do you have any ideas?”  
“I liked the roses and the calla lillies- I think she would have too.”  
You hummed in response, placing four of each in the basket. “This is good- what else?”  
“I think the carnations and the hollyhocks would work with them, don’t you think?”  
“Yeah, of course!” You placed a couple more of each in the basket.  
“The poppies and pansies would be nice too.” You nodded your head, placing stocks of them in with the rest of his flowers. “And I think the cosmos would go well with those.”  
“Okay, let’s put some of those in there too then!” You placed a nice amount of the flower in the now full basket before turning to Steve. “Is there anything else you would like to put in here?”  
“No,” He took the basket carefully from your hands, as if he was handling something extremely precious. You deduced that whoever he lost must have meant a whole lot to him, which only furthered your concern for the man. “That’ll be all.”  
“Okay, then let’s ring you up.” You walked him to the front desk again, entering the amount of each type of flowers he had picked out. “That’ll be one-oh-four thirty-four.”  
He placed the basket delicately down on the counter before fishing for his wallet in his pocket. He then proceeded to pull a one hundred dollar bill out along with a twenty. You took the money and placed it in the cash register before starting to sift through the bills to give him his change.  
“No, please, keep the change.” He reached for the basket and grasped it tightly in his hand before giving you a small smile. “Thank you for helping me.”  
“The pleasure was all mine.” You said, walking him to the door. “I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”  
He sighed before looking at you. “It’s alright. She isn’t in pain any longer.” With that, Steve walked out the door and into the gloomy day.  
***  
By the time Steve came back home it was the grey sky had started to rain, so it was no surprise when Steve came in soaked to the bone.  
“Hey Steve. Do you want me to start a shower?”  
“No thanks, I got it.”  
“Is there anything I can do?” Both men knew that there was a double meaning to Bucky’s words; he wanted to know if Steve wanted to talk about his day.  
“I’m fine Buck. I just went to give some flowers to Peggy.” Steve disappeared into the bathroom, his head popping back out a second later. “You would have liked the girl working there- she was really kind. She seemed genuinely concerned for me, which was really sweet. You always liked the sweet ones, didn’t you Buck?”  
“Yeah,” Bucky laughed, “I guess so.”  
The bathroom door closed behind Steve as he went to take a shower, but Bucky could still hear him shouting over the running water. “You should stop by tomorrow.”  
“Why would I do that?”  
“I dunno, I just have a feeling about this one.”  
***  
True to his word, the next day Bucky stood outside the flower shop. ‘Y/n’s Florals’ the shop read. For some reason, when he read your name he couldn’t help but feel tingles run down his spine in the most pleasant of ways.   
The bells over the door jingled as he passed through the door, entering the shop with curiousity. There was no one at the front desk which discouraged him, but if he strained his hearing he could hear you softly humming to yourself somewhere in the shop. His footsteps were light as he walked through the aisles, as he didn’t want to interrupt the beautiful sound of your soft humming. He found you towards the back watering a line of eerily familiar purple flowers.  
“Hello?” Bucky couldn’t help but feel bad for you as she jumped nearly six inches in the air with fright.  
You turned around holding your hand over your heart, which was still beating horribly fast might I add. “What is it with people and sneaking up on me!” As soon as the words left your mouth you instantly regretted them, placing a hand over your mouth in shock. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! That’s terribly unprofessional of me!”  
The dashing young man in front of you chuckled before speaking. “Don’t be sorry- I should be the one apologizing. I was the one that snuck up on you.”  
“True,” You said before converting back into your professional mode, “Anyways, I’m Y/n. How may I help you today?”  
Bucky didn’t want to stop talking to you, but for some reason he felt as though he couldn’t ask you out straightaway- something told him that you were more special than just any other girl that he would ask out casually.   
He attempted to think quickly, searching for a reason as to why he would need to talk to you. “Um, my friend came in here yesterday to buy some flowers-”  
“Oh, you Steve- was it? The other really quiet guy?”  
Bucky couldn’t help but smile a bit as you seemed proud of your deduction. “Yeah, Steve’s my friend.” You smiled back at him, glad that you guessed right so you didn’t make a complete fool of yourself.   
“So what are you looking for today mister...”   
“Barnes, but please call me Bucky.”  
“Okay Bucky, what are we looking for?”  
He looked around the room before zeroing in on the purple flowers behind you. Maybe he would get some flowers for Wanda or Natasha or something. Anything to keep the conversation going. “I was looking to get some purple flowers?”  
“Okay, sure. What size bouquet are you looking for?”  
“Medium?”  
You chuckled at his uncertainty- guys could be such goofballs when it came to flowers. “Okay, medium then.” You motioned for him to stay put before walking to the front of the store to get one of the plastic wraps for a medium sized bouquet before walking back to him. “What would you like?”  
Bucky had no idea what to choose when it came to flowers, so he decided for you to choose. “Um, I was hoping that you could help me with that?”  
“Sure, okay. I might be a bit biased though- is that okay?”  
“Of course.”  
“Alright then,” You said, leaning over some pots to get to stalks of lavender. “You wanted to stick to purple only, right?”  
Bucky didn’t know why he said yes when there were so many different colors of flowers around them. But, for some reason, he knew that purple flowers only was the right choice.  
“I think I’ll put in some salvias and some carnations in, if that’s okay?” You had always liked those flowers, as they were the ones that were in the tattoo on your hip. You were only encouraged when he nodded his head for you to keep going. “Some daylilies would be nice too, and some owl’s clover would be fun…”   
Before you knew it, you had unconsciously made a replica of your tattoo. “Is this good?” You asked, looking from the bouquet over to him.   
Bucky was standing next to you, staring at the flowers attentively. He squinted at them, searching his mind for where he had seen them before. And then it dawned on him.  
“You’re the girl.”  
“Yeah, I’m Y/n, remember?”   
“No, you’re the girl.”  
“I don’t understand-” You said, watching as Bucky started to lift up his shirt. You were about to smack him until you saw the tattoo on his abdomen- one identical to yours and to the bouquet in your hands.  
“Oh my god.” You felt like you should have been saying something more, but you couldn’t think of any words to say.  
“Oh my god. I finally found you!”  
Before you knew what was happening, two strong arms wrapped around you and your face was smooshed into his hard chest. You threw your arms around his large frame, a feeling of warmth flourishing across your body.   
For once in very long time, Bucky was at peace.


End file.
